


Zero Tolerance 2: Sub-Zero

by Dinobot_Slash



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Fluff, Multi, Mutual Pining, Sticky Sexual Interfacing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-31 01:07:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12121239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dinobot_Slash/pseuds/Dinobot_Slash
Summary: Ultra Magnus has been trying to find someone to work under him, but that takes on a whole new meaning after he learns of a rumor regarding him and the Vehicon commander.





	Zero Tolerance 2: Sub-Zero

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Zero Tolerance](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1331212) by [lizwuzthere](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizwuzthere/pseuds/lizwuzthere). 



> The first Zero Tolerance is a story over on my non-explicit account, and this is a sort of sequel. You don't have to read that one to get this, but it expands on the relationship here if you're interested in more of them.  
> This is absolute self-indulgent garbage and I love it but uh.. yeah. Anyway, I hope you read it and like it too but keep in mind I just wrote this because I couldn't get it out of my head and not because it's like a good idea..
> 
> Anyway, the first chapter doesn't have any explicit content in case you want to avoid that.. but next chapter will. And yeah, thats a spoiler but dude you read the tags. We all know where this is going anyway :U

Council meetings were becoming more uneventful as of recent. Things had calmed down a bit since Cybertron had been restored by the Autobots, and they were doing their best to work out their issues with the Decepticons sans-weaponry. Since no other Cybertronian ships had arrived yet, mostly all they had to talk about was the on going reconstruction.

Bulkhead was one of the leaders in the physical reconstruction of New Kaon, but even so, he stopped attending the council meetings after awhile. He had a hard time staying awake let alone paying attention. Wheeljack had skipped out way before Bulkhead, but that didn’t surprise anyone. Bumblebee deciding he was more interested in his scouting duties than being on the council had been a bit of a surprise.

To be perfectly honest, Ultra Magnus had been disappointed that the young bot wasn’t more interested in a leadership position. He had been hoping to recruit one of the Autobots into a sort of mentor-mentee relationship so there would be someone to assist in his duties, and also to assure him that there would be someone else capable of taking over his position should something happen. He was wary of that possibility since the incident with the Predacons. Though he had done the job at that time when Magnus was incapacitated, Bumblebee had now opted-out by leaving the council, so he would have to look elsewhere.

He still had Arcee and Smokescreen attending regularly. Arcee actually took their situation with the Decepticons seriously. She was serious and focused on making sure things got done. He liked that about her, but the trouble was in her attitude towards the Decepticons. On the occasion there was an issue with the Vehicons, she would do a poor job of hearing them out before deciding on her own what should be done. The lack of sympathy was not a good trait for a diplomat.

Smokescreen on the other hand had made friends with a number of Vehicons and was eager to please. He was especially interested in gaining Magnus’ attention. It seemed that eagerness was what kept him coming to the meetings rather than his interest in the topics. He would certainly try to remain focused, but he tended to drift away when he wasn’t the one being addressed. That wouldn’t do either. Magnus needed someone who genuinely cared about the matters at hand.

As for the two Decepticons on their council, they were obviously out of the question.

Knockout had apparently joined the ranks of the Autobots while Ultra Magnus was out of commission during the first few days. Despite this and despite the role he’d been given as their chief medical officer, Ultra Magnus was still wary of him. Knockout had a temper and could be unpredictable. It seemed the medic was only coming to the council meetings in order to complain or stir up trouble. Either that, or to annoy his other Decepticon council member, AA-00, whom he despised for no apparent reason.

On that note, AA-00, the Vehicon commander, was also not a probable choice. It was true that despite being from opposing factions, the two had managed to get along well enough as of late. AA-00 had started off with a complete distrust of the Autobots and their intentions, but Magnus had managed to ease them away from that. Now, the two actually worked quite well together when they had a common goal.

Despite all of this, AA-00 was still the leader of the Vehicons, and that was a role they took incredibly seriously. Their every goal was aligned with benefiting the Decepticon ranks and keeping them safe. This wasn’t necessarily at odds with Magnus’ goals, but his priorities still lied with the Autobots under his command and so AA-00 was, in some ways, a political opponent of his. For his own part, Magnus couldn’t see that relationship changing anytime soon.

This was all overshadowed by the simple fact that AA-00 was in no way in need of a mentor. They were just as capable as Magnus in their own way. If anything, AA-00 was more like his equal.

In any case, whether he could find someone suitable to work under him or not, he still had this next meeting to get through. He had come prepared with a long list of points to be discussed and so had AA-00. They compared at the start of the meeting and, much to the relief of the other council members, many of them were duplicates, but they still had quite a few topics to go through.

Not wasting a moment, the two had gotten right to work debating the issues at hand. Arcee would have some good input on many of them, and Smokescreen tried to offer his own helpful yet obvious opinions once in awhile, but for the great majority of the time it was just Ultra Magnus and AA-00 talking to each other. This was typical in their meetings, but there was one unusual part. They had gone through every item on the agenda except one, and Knockout had yet to speak up at all.

The medic would often try to voice his opinion in the most biting way possible whenever it suited him to interrupt, (usually while AA-00 was speaking) but during this meeting, he had stayed silent. Ultra Magnus had noticed and kept one optic on him throughout. He appeared to just be watching Magnus and AA-00 talk, his optics zipping back and forth between the two as they spoke, and occasionally he would try to hide a slight smile by leaning into his hand.

It wasn’t causing any trouble, of course, so Magnus didn’t say anything further.

“I’m not sure I understand,” Smokescreen had spoken up again, so Magnus pulled his optics off of Knockout and looked to the young soldier. “I mean, no, I get the general idea of togetherness and stuff it symbolizes… but what’s going to make the Decepticons take off their faction symbols if we do?” His question was directed at AA-00, and it turned out to be a good one, so Magnus turned his attention over to them.

AA-00 tapped their sharp digit on the table in front of them thoughtfully a few times before answering, “Well, nothing can make the Vehicons do that. If I were to order them to do so, there would be push back. There's still some animosity towards me working so closely with you all,” They reached up to their own chassis, tapping on the Decepticon insignia beneath the glass. “but you see, these are the symbol of that animosity. If we were to do away with them, others would follow suit. It’s not an overnight solution to the tension, but I believe it would help if, eventually, we could phase them out all together.” They paused and then added, “Of course, it’s unlikely to work unless all of the Autobots agree.”

Smokescreen shrank back in his chair a bit, tracing a servo over his Autobot badge on his chassis. “Yeah I guess…” he grumbled, “I worked real hard for this is all.”

“I’m not sure I want to lose mine, either.” Arcee nodded, “Not that I don’t agree with the intent, it’s just… I’ve had it for so long. It’s kind of a part of me now. I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. What do you think, Ultra Magnus?” She looked up at him expectantly as she asked.

The enforcer hesitated as he considered the subject. He had to admit, even he found some sentimental value in the Autobot badge that would be hard to let go of. If he felt that way, it would certainly be the case with many of the Decepticons as well. That must have been the reason AA-00 wanted them to lead on this issue, so the Decepticons would feel more at ease and as though they were not abandoning their cause because they technically lost. With that in mind, he posed one last question to AA-00.

“Would you be willing to remove your faction symbol along with us?”

There was no hesitation on AA-00’s part. They nodded and then added, “Some Vehicons won’t like it, but I had already intended to, as long as the rest of the Autobots are on board.”

Clearly there was no sentimental value for them, and that actually made Magnus feel more relaxed about the concept. “I can’t decide something like this on my own, but I will bring it to the attention of the other Autobots and see if we can come to an agreement.”

“I didn’t expect it to be fast or easy,” AA-00 started to gather the multiple datapads strewn in front of them into a neat pile, in anticipation of the end of the meeting, “but it does feel like a step in the right direction, if we can make it happen.”

“Agreed.” Magnus nodded, then glanced around to the other three bots there, “Unless anyone else has a topic to discuss, this meeting can be adj-“

“Oh! Wait, I had one quick thing!” Smokescreen stuck his servo up into the air as if waiting to be called on.

“Yes, Smokescreen?” Ultra Magnus didn’t appreciate being interrupted, but it was also unlike Smokescreen to have an issue brought up at the council, and he was curious, so he let it slide. “Slide” meaning that he would correct his rudeness at a later time.

Smokescreen let his servo fall to his side again and looked over at AA-00, “I mean, it’s more of a question, really.” He mumbled, then continued in a louder voice, “Y’know how I’m training some of the miner Vehicons to fight? Well some of them introduced themselves with some weird names. I got their names on my roster as like, numbers and letters, but… well, for example, there’s the one guy who goes by Steve apparently. What’s that about?”

“Steve…?” AA-00 paused for a moment to think, then their wings dipped just a bit as they seemed to remember. “Oh, right. Him. Yes, that’s ST-03. He gave himself a human name.”

“Ah, ok. So he’s ST-03?” Smokescreen asked, “So I should call him that?”

“Ehh, well… If he asked you to call him Steve…” AA-00 was visibly hesitating this time, “Ugh. It pains me to say this, because human names are so stupid…but technically the Decepticons aren’t part of an army anymore, so I don’t need to sort them by serials. So I suppose ST-03 is fine being Steve from now on.”

As Smokescreen nodded understanding, Arcee leaned forward a bit to speak up. “I’ve been working with a scouting team that has some Vehicons named Needlenose and Ramjet. Are those their real names or made up like with Steve?”

“They might be real… some of the Vehicons will probably go back to using the names they had before they were assigned serials, and some might make up entirely new ones. It’s best to just call them whatever they introduce themselves as.”

“Hey wait!” Smokescreen spoke up again, “That means all you guys had names before they got all numerical! So do you have a real name too? What is it?”

The question seemed mundane to Ultra Magnus, but as he looked back over to AA-00, he noticed their wings give a slight twinge. It was barely noticeable, but he had seen it enough times from Knockout’s pestering to know it meant they were uncomfortable or flustered. Magnus quickly looked back to Smokescreen.

“If the information was not offered to you, it is rude to demand it of someone,” He snapped, “please refer to them as AA-00, as they have instructed.”

Smokescreen shrank back a bit at the scolding, “Yikes… sorry.” He mumbled, then he pushed his chair out as he got ready to leave.

“And also, it is poor form to interrupt when I am about to adjourn the meeting. Please refrain from doing so this time… Meeting adjourned.” Magnus looked over at the other two Autobots as they got up to leave, and just as about he was to do the same, he noticed Knockout. The mech was looking at him and hiding that smile in his servo again. When Magnus caught his optic, he turned away and followed Arcee and Smokescreen out of the room. The casual air about his actions didn’t stop Magnus from finding it suspicious.

Before Magnus could follow him out to question his behavior during the meeting, AA-00 spoke up and interrupted his thoughts.

“Magnus…” they kept their optics down on the datapads they were storing in their subspace. “Thanks for that. He caught me off guard there, and… well, thanks.”

Ultra Magnus gave a short nod, gathering up the single data pad he'd brought and tucking it into a compartment on his chassis. “You shouldn't be expected to share personal information if you haven’t offered it. I hope you’ll forgive him. Smokescreen rarely thinks before he speaks.”

The body language of mechs with wings was not something Magnus was used to interpreting, but he had been trying to learn so he could better understand the fliers in the Decepticon ranks, but it was slow going. It certainly didn't help with his study that AA-00 had a tendency to emote as little as possible, but from the slight tilt up of just one of their wings, they seemed to be amused. Maybe they even had a smile behind that mask they always wore.

“No, I suppose he doesn’t.” They agreed, standing up. They had kept one datapad out and began to mull it over as they headed for the door, “So long as he doesn’t ask again, I’ll look past it.”

“I’m certain he won’t.” Ultra Magnus made to follow them. As they went out into the hallway, they paused and just stood there, tapping lightly on their data pad with one of their digits thoughtfully. Usually AA-00 would be rushing off to their next appointment that they were already late for, so this seemed strange.

“Do you not recall what's next on your schedule?” He asked, stepping up beside them.

AA-00 glanced up at Magnus before looking back to the pad in their servo. “I never forget my schedule.” They almost sounded offended, “I just don't have anything next. There was no one who needed me for anything during the next three subcycles and, uh… I don't know what to do with the time.”

Magnus nodded, then paused for a moment to think before continuing. “Considering how busy your schedule typically is, you don’t get much rest. You could always use the extra time to recharge.”

“Pass.” AA-00 didn’t look up as they spoke this time. “I’m used to not recharging much, so I’d rather find some way to be productive.”

“Well, then I suppose you could spend it cleaning up your hab suite.” Ultra Magnus tried not to sound too judgmental with his tone as he said this, but it was difficult. AA-00 was similar to Magnus in that they kept documentation on everything, but they were terrible at organizing it. That meant their living quarters was in a constant state of looking like a hurricane just blasted through it. Magnus didn’t even like to think about all the discarded cubes and cleaning rags tossed into the mix with the data pads and files, making what would have just been disorganization into a pit of filth that Magnus could hardly stand to think about let alone wonder how someone could recharge or work in there.

This statement did get AA-00 to look up again, though. They considered Magnus for a moment, as if they were deciding whether or not to be offended by the suggestion, but then they gave a slight shrug and looked away again.

“I suppose I could do that,” they mumbled, “it’s such a mess though. I probably couldn’t finish by myself in just three subcycles.”

“The last time I saw your quarters, there was a stack of discarded energon cubes that was taller than myself,” Magnus said, shaking his helm, “and some of them weren’t even empty. So yes. You might want to get some help.”

AA-00’s wings gave a barely perceptible flutter that, in Magnus’ experience, meant they were going to say something very smug. He wasn’t disappointed. They turned to face the mech fully, fold their arms across their chassis and said, “Well since you’re so good at it, why don’t you help me clean?”

His disinterest, if not outright repulsion, was obvious on his face even though he did try to hide it a bit. “Oh, I… don’t think I should be doing that,” He said, “and besides, I have another appointment to get to soon.”

“You don’t have to remind me, I already know your schedule.” AA-00 tapped the datapad still in their servo. “But I’ve seen your office: there’s not a speck out of place in there. You’re very good at this sort of thing. I kind of need you.”

Ultra Magnus still looked reluctant, so AA-00 continued, “How about this then: I’ll go clear out all the trash like the cubes and rags, and when you finish your meetings and get off in a subcycle, you come help me organize my files.” They tilted their helm, trying to look coy as they then said, “I’ll even let you make copies of whatever you want for your own records.”

This actually did sound more agreeable to Magnus; there was still plenty of Decepticon intel that he hadn’t been able to catalogue into their new system yet, and AA-00’s hab suite was bound to be a treasure trove of documentation that would greatly expand their current database.

“That sounds like a fair exchange.” Ultra Magnus nodded, “I’ll come by your quarters in one subcycle, then… but please have the trash cleared out by then, I have no interest in picking through any of that while we organize your files.”

“Don’t worry about that,” they said, “one subcycle is plenty of time to toss some cubes away.”

When he was about to make a comment about it being quite a bit more than just some cubes, Magnus paused because he had just noticed, down the hall there was a small visor poking out behind one of the corners. So instead he gestured over to them and said, “It seems there is someone waiting for you.”

AA-00 looked around to see where he was pointing, and when they saw the Vehicon miner their wings gave an annoyed twitch.

“What are they doing here? They shouldn’t…” they cut off their sentence and turned back to Magnus, “I should go. It won’t take long to deal with them, though, so I’ll still have that done by the time you finish.”

“Very well. I’ll leave you to it, then.” With that, Ultra Magnus turned and headed off in the opposite direction down the hall.

As he turned the corner, he didn’t make it more than a few steps before he had to stop. Knockout, Smokescreen, and Arcee were all still there and looking up at him. They weren’t blocking his way, but their presence had surprised him, especially because they didn’t appear to be doing anything except waiting for him. He looked down at Knockout first because the mech was looking too smug and it was disconcerting. Before he could say anything, Smokescreen interrupted him.

“Sorry about this, sir!” He said, “We didn’t mean to eavesdrop, really! It’s just that… uh…”

Arcee picked up when the mech trailed off, “Knockout was acting suspicious during the meeting, and then he was waiting for you around this corner, so we wanted to find out what he was up to.”

“Yeah!” Smokescreen agreed. As he continued he looked over at Knockout, his expression very uneasy, “And uh… while we were waiting he, um… he said some things that kinda freaked us out.”

“I noticed his suspicious behavior as well.” Magnus said, still glaring down at the medic. “Would you care to explain your uncharacteristic silence during that session, doctor?”

Knockout was leaning up against the wall of the hallway and smirking up at Ultra Magnus during this exchange, and when he was addressed directly at last, he shrugged his shoulder plating and finally looked away.

“I didn’t mean to get anyone riled up,” he said, the smirk never leaving his face, “I just didn’t want to interrupt. The rapport you two have developed is something else.”

“And by ‘you two’ you mean…?” Magnus prompted him.

“You and AA-00, sir.” Knockout couldn’t possibly sound any more smug if his life depended on it. Ultra Magnus would have been more annoyed by his attitude if he hadn’t been so thrown off by the next sentence out of the mech’s mouth:

“You’re a very cute couple.”

The shock he felt once the statement’s meaning registered made Ultra Magnus feel like he’d been punched straight through the chassis. Him and AA-00 together? Preposterous! The thought had never even crossed his mind. It was true that they had been getting along much better recently, but the two had a strictly platonic relationship. As he tried to relay this information along, however, his vocalizer seemed to be stuck and he was only able to stammer out bits and pieces of it. The way he was obviously flustered by the implication made him seem defensive, which only served to fluster him more. After stammering out a few half-sentences, he paused a moment to gather himself and finally spoke a full sentence.

“AA-00 and I are not a couple,” he said, fighting to bring back the stern expression he'd started this conversation with, “it's true we have been working closely to improve Autobot and Decepticon relations, but we-“

“Oh. Well,” Knockout interrupted, his grin widened as he tried not to laugh, “how foolish of me to misinterpret you working on your relations.”

Whatever small semblance of his usual decorum Ultra Magnus had regained, he felt it slip away. Before he could start fumbling his words again, one of the Autobots spoke up.

“Stop it, Knockout!” Arcee said, glaring over at the medic. She then gave a much more sympathetic look to Ultra Magnus. “It’s okay, Magnus, we know it’s not true. Knockout is just making things up.”

“Excuse me,” the red mech placed a servo over his chassis, trying to look offended, “did we not all just hear the same conversation between those two? Don’t try to tell me I’m pulling this out of thin air.”

Smokescreen shrugged his shoulders, careful not to meet Magnus’ optics as he said, “I mean… it didn’t sound great just then.” He mumbled, “What with them needing you, and you going to their room later… I could see how-“

“No!” Arcee cut him off, “Knockout’s got you looking for something that’s not there. They aren’t together.”

“You make it sound like I’m accusing him of a crime,” Knockout chided the femme, then finally looked up at Ultra Magnus again. “Personally, I think it’s wonderful. They could use someone like you, especially since Zero’s last partner was so… let’s just say rude.”

He decided to ignore Knockout’s use of the nickname the Vehicon commander hated. Correcting him would just add fuel to this suddenly raging fire he found himself standing in. If he was giving off the impression that AA-00 and himself were something more than colleagues, did that mean he was doing something wrong? Perhaps he should try to be more professional. Though, he wasn’t sure how to do that without coming across as cold, which would only serve to strain their relationship. It had already started out strained to its breaking point, and he’d come so far by being courteous and friendly towards them… but what if they were taking his demeanor the wrong way? If Knockout thought there was something between them, did that mean AA-00 had picked up on something as well?

The possibility that his attempt at diplomacy could be so wildly misinterpreted could definitely cause trouble, but the more troubling part was that he could feel the tightness around his spark shifting slowly. It had begun as pure embarrassment, but now that he was thinking more about the idea, it felt like there was something else there that he didn’t quite know how to verbalize. Intrigue? Excitement? No, how could he be feeling like that at a time like this?

Letting his optics drop to the ground, he finally stepped forward, moving past the three ‘Bots to continue down the hallway.

“I don’t have time to indulge your fantasies,” he said, being careful to keep his voice level, “I have work to attend to.”

That was true, but the main reason he got out of there was because he didn’t want to think about this any more. Unfortunately for him, Arcee tagged along as he headed off.

“Ultra Magnus, sir,” she said, “I hope you’re not worrying about this too much. Nobody actually believes it. Knockout’s just trying to embarrass you.”

Yes, and it was working, Magnus thought. She was right, of course. Knockout’s words shouldn’t be bothering him as much as they were, and he shouldn’t be feeling like this, because it wasn’t true. Even so, Arcee’s assurances didn’t help. He just wanted to be out of there so he could focus on anything else. If he thought about this for much longer he might do something crude like actually visualize this supposed coupling Knockout accused them of. His fuel tank felt like it was being twisted up already, it didn’t need any further encouragement.

“Thank you, Arcee,” he said, quickening his pace to pull away from the two-wheeler, “I do have meetings to attend to, though. You’ll have to excuse me.”

Being so much shorter, it was hard for her to keep up with his long strides, and so rather than try to run after him, she stopped and allowed him to get away. She called a short goodbye after him which he ignored. He was already forcefully pushing those thoughts from his mind again and trying hard to focus on something else. He couldn’t deal with this right now.

* * *

 The miner who had pulled AA-00 away looked appropriately nervous as the two of them retreated back into the council chambers to speak in private. It was appropriate because their superior did not look happy with their presence. After pressing the keypad to shut the door behind them, AA-00 made this more obvious by shooting them a sharp glare.

“What are you doing?” They growled, “Your intel report isn’t due until next decacycle. We’re not supposed to be seen together or you could blow your cover. Of all my spies, I thought at least you would know better, ST-04.”

The Vehicon lowered their helm at the words and tried to look sorry as they mumbled their apologies. Apologies wouldn’t cut it, of course. Ultra Magnus had seen them, and luckily the Autobot had enough tact to not stick around and ask questions, but that didn't mean this was acceptable. It wouldn’t do to let anyone else know that AA-00 had spies amongst the ranks in order to keep tabs on the Vehicons. They hadn’t turned any spies on the Autobots for lack of a need to, but the possibility of it would cause yet another rift between their two factions. After AA-00 had worked so hard to get into the good graces of Magnus, they would hate to throw that all away because of one careless miner.

“I know. I’m so, so sorry, sir,” ST-04 said, keeping their helm bowed, “I had to see you in person, though. There’s… there’s something important you needed to hear that couldn’t wait until next decacycle.”

This did get AA-00’s attention. ST-04 was one of their better operatives, and their serious tone implied bad news. Any number of potential problems leapt to the front of their processor in the brief moment that ST-04 paused. The Predacons returning? Information about Shockwave’s location? Were there Vehicons planning an uprising against the Autobots and threatening to start up the war again and get all of them killed?!

“I’ve been hearing for the last few days…” ST-04 finally continued, “there’s this rumor going around. It’s about you.” AA-00 noticed that they were still looking down, refusing to make eye contact.

If the Vehicons were gossiping about them, it could mean they were questioning AA-00’s leadership. That would be bad news. It also didn't bode well that ST-04 still seemed to be hesitating; that wasn’t like them. Usually they couldn’t wait to share whatever juicy gossip the Vehicons were spreading around.

After waiting another moment for ST-04 to gather their words, AA-00 finally demanded, “Well spit it out, then!”

This finally startled the Vehicon into looking up, “There are rumors that you and Ultra Magnus are…” they hesitated again but only for a second before catching themself, “are interfacing.”

Usually AA-00 kept a tight lid on the emotions they projected in order to appear calm and collected, but at that moment, ST-04 was able to witness one of the few times that façade broke apart. They took a step back, as if they were reeling from a physical attack, with their wings hiked up almost impossibly high. After this initial shock hit them, they froze for a moment, just staring at ST-04.

“What?!!” Their vocalizer actually cracked a bit as they screeched this one word. “I would never… H-he’s an Auto-… I’m not- WE’RE NOT!”

“I know that!” ST-04 held up their servos defensively, “You don’t have to convince me; I know you wouldn’t do that! I just wanted you to know… some other Vehicons have been saying it.”

Now that statement made them feel a more familiar emotion: anger. Anger they could deal with easier than whatever else had just paralyzed them a moment ago. Forcing their wings back down, they crossed their arms across their chassis.

“Who is spreading this rumor?” They managed to keep their vocalized under control this time, projecting a calmness with just a hint of anger. ST-04 seemed to relax a bit; they were used to their superior being angry too, so it was more familiar than the panicked tone they’d just had.

“I haven't made a list,” ST-04 said, “there's too many Vehicons talking about it. I could try, but I think it would be better to find who started the rumors in the first place. I think I have a good idea about-“

“No, don't bother,” AA-00 thought back to Knockout’s uncharacteristic behaviors during the last meeting and decided that they also had a pretty good idea who was responsible. They didn't bring that up though, “if this is as widespread as you say, it would seem suspicious to try and suppress it. I'll have to do some damage control…”

The concept wasn't new to them; they had dealt with this sort of thing once before back on the Nemesis and had managed to squelch those rumors by staging a few rather public disagreements with the other involved party. Although, in that case it had been easy to coordinate their response because the rumors had been true. If they were to use the same plan, he would have to actually approach Magnus and bring up this salacious rumor, and then convince him to go along with them. Aside from how unbearably humiliating the thought of explaining what the Vehicons thought they were doing, they also seriously doubted that Ultra Magnus could pull off a public stunt like that. It might even do more harm than good if their relationship appeared to be growing hostile again. The other Autobots would get concerned if they heard about it, and a bunch of defensive Autobots was the last thing the Vehicons needed.

After a moment as they silently considered all of this, AA-00 finally let out a quiet vent and shook their helm. “Frag…” they mumbled, “This is going to be difficult.”

“If it would help,” ST-04 spoke up, “I could try to feed into some other rumors. It wouldn't make this go away, but we could shift the Vehicons’ interest. I have some dirt on Knockout…”

“Interesting.” AA-00 was wearing their mask, but their smirk was apparent just from their tone. “Anything substantiated?”

“No, but that hardly matters, does it?”

“Apparently not.” AA-00 stepped to the side and placed their servo on the door’s keypad. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention, ST-04. I'll let you know if I need your assistance with anything else. You're dismissed.”

The door slid open and with only a short nod, ST-04 hurried past them and down the hall. Rather than follow them out, AA-00 pressed the keypad again and let the door slide shut. There was no one else in the council chamber, so they wanted to have a moment alone to regain their composure. They didn’t want to go out into the hall with their wings twitching like this, someone might notice and ask what was wrong. ST-04 probably noticed too. They just knew better than to say anything.

As the door closed with a quiet clink, AA-00 leaned back against the wall, pressing their wings against the cool metal. They vented heavily and focused until the slight rattling of their wings shaking against the wall quieted. It was fine. They had this under control. There was no need to be so nervous… why were they so nervous?

Reaching up, they removed their mask with one servo, and pressed the other into their now exposed face, rubbing at their tightly shuttered optics. This was ridiculous. As they already reasoned out, they had dealt with these kind of rumors before. It had never frazzled them like this. What did AA-00 care about what the Vehicons thought of them personally? Most of them were idiots, anyway. They must be if they thought AA-00 was ‘facing with Ultra Magnus. How would that even work? The Autobot was twice their size!

AA-00 actually jumped from the surprise of their cooling fans clicking on.

The surprise was quickly overwhelmed by embarrassment, and they forced their fans back off again.

That hadn’t happened. No, they were just going to pretend that hadn’t happened. Ignoring the slight heat that had built in their frame, they clipped their mask back over their face and spun around to go out the door.

They didn’t want to dwell on this any further. There was no time to be worrying about some Vehicon gossip, not when they had three just subcycles to clean out their hab suite. They purposefully didn’t remind themself that Magnus would be by soon to help. They didn’t need their fans clicking on again in the middle of the hall.


End file.
